Unite 2 Survive
by Music-Is-Life-88
Summary: 3 Weeks After First Infection - Day 21 - The Officer, The Kick Boxer, The Yoga Instructor, and The Photographer - They meet up with Ellis, Nick, Coach and Rochelle to raise the Rayford Bridge. They decide that joining together will help them survive; now the new group of eight go to New Orleans for rescue, but is that what they'll find? Nick x OC
1. Meet The Team

Meet the Team

* * *

**Denzel 'Dennis'** [The Officer] Age: **65** - Hometown: **Alto, GA** – _A proud southern native, Denzel was the longest running officer in his county; at 65, he'd been a probation officer for 40 years and never planned on retiring. He heard rumors of the zombie apocalypse, but cast them off as the paranoia of the new generation. While visiting one of his assignments, it turned out they had been infected with the 'Green Flu'. After grabbing his night stick and hunting rifle, he headed out for an evac. After continuously running into abandoned evacs, he met up with three others. Now he's more determined than ever to make sure he and his group survive, get to safety, and kill every zombie they meet. Undead or not, he's going to teach these zombies a lesson in respect for their elders, and respect for the authorities._

**Neil** [The Kick boxer] Age: **24** - Hometown: **Cork, Ireland** – _Neil moved to America from Ireland a few years ago and he's been living up every minute of it. A kick boxing instructor by day, hard-core partier by night; to him, the rules are like guidelines, he going to live his life however he wants to. When word of the Green Flu spread, he's been laughing it off as nothing. When his town was being evacuated, he escaped and began traveling south, excited to practice his boxing on the most challenging opponents yet. In top physical shape, he's ready and waiting to kick the ass of every zombie he meets. During his own personal zombie killing tournament, he met up with three other survivors. Now he's got to start learning to take this infection seriously if he wants to survive._

**Angeline** **'Annie'** [The Yoga Instructor] Age: **22** - Hometown: **Boston, MA** –_ Angeline is an independent, social butterfly who's blunt, slightly perverted, and speaks her mind. Moved out of Boston to be on her own as soon as she turned 18, she joined up as a yoga instructor in Brooklyn. When the infection hit, she grabbed the few things she owned and traveled south; however, no matter where she moved to, the virus soon followed. Joining up with three other survivors, she's the youngest who anxious to prove herself. Not one for any sort of commitment, she's going to have to learn to help out and work with the others in order to get to safety, and to help herself._

**Laura** [The Photographer] Age: **30** - Hometown: **Philadelphia, PA** –_ A warm caregiver, she's someone who wants everyone happy, everything to be structured with rules and authority, and approval. However, she has her own values which she firmly believes and stands by. It was just a normal day at Laura's job as a wedding photographer. She was used to 'Bride-zillas' and, being a people-person, could easily get them calm enough for a few perfect pictures to capture one of the happiest moments in their lives. However, she couldn't calm down a zombie bride who went on to infect almost the entire procession. She took a golf club from the resort the wedding was held at and has been using it as her only weapon, since she can only hold onto one weapon if she wants to keep her camera. Uncomfortable in this new, lawless world, she's using her precious camera to document her journey, and she'd sooner die than leave it behind. As she traveled south, she met up with three others; now she has to realize that she's going to be needed out from behind the camera if she wants to get through this._

* * *

**Gotta make a plan.**  
**Gonna do what's right. **  
**Can't keep running 'round in circles if you wanna build a life.**  
**I don't wanna make a plan for a day far away.**  
**While I'm young and while I'm able **  
**all I wanna do is -**

_J.A.R. - Greenday_

* * *

Neil's Slang

**Peeler** – Police officer

**Row** - Fight

**Reef** – Beat up

**Scab** – Ugly man

* * *

"City of Rayford. Eh, peeler, do ya know this place?" Neil shouted back at the rest of his group as they caught up with him.

Dennis let out an annoyed growl, "Yeah, I know Rayford, and you better watch yourself punk or you'll get this nightstick straight up your ass," Neil just scoffed at the empty threat and continued on, not waiting for the others, "An' stop running off ahead ya damn re-"

"Hey, calm down Dennis," Laura's firm, motherly voice pleaded, resting her hand on the blue sleeve of Dennis' uniform. The elderly man just emitted a low growl and marched forward. Laura stopped and watched the aggravated probation march after Neil. She reached back towards the elastics of her braid and made sure her hair was still secure. The other female in the group, Annie, came up and patted Laura's back, ushering her to keep moving. The two women walked together, a few steps ahead was their leader and escort of the South, Dennis, and up ahead, just still in view, was Neil.

Annie shook her head, "Sometimes it seems that guy's more trouble than he's worth, don't it?" Laura just nodded passively as Annie continued talking, "Bastahd's lucky his goddamn mohawk is so fucking radio**a**ctive we can see it **t**en miles back! 'Else I would shoot his leg quicker than he can throw ah punch. Ha! Maybe that'd get him ta stay with the group!" Annie joked at the Irishman's expense. He _was_ like a beckon, you could always spot him by his hair; with her, she was in her all black yoga pants and tank top. The only colour _she_ had was the oversized pink crop top currently sliding off her shoulder. Laura looked ahead at Neil; it was true, his short mohawk-styled hair cut was dyed an extremely fluorescent green.

Dennis heard Annie's comment, and glared at the boy ahead, "Yeah, well maybe his crazy hair colour is why the zombies keep chasing us," he shouted so Neil could hear.

The Irishman turned around towards them, "Ah, you're just jealous some of us still _have_ colour in their hair ya geezer," he countered, referring to the 65 year old's grey buzzcut,

"Boy why don't you turn around so my club here can teach your dumb-ass some manners?" Dennis threatened, hitting his palm with the nightstick threateningly,

"Oi, ya wanna row, I'll reef ya so bad yar gonna wish yar ma never gave birth to ya!" Neil retorted, his accent becoming more apparent as their argument heated.

Annie shook her head and went between them, "Ey knuckleheads, let's focus here, kay? Dennis, would ya tell us where we gotta go or what?"

"You hold your horses missy," Dennis scolded, "let's see, if we're in Rayford…"

Neil watched worriedly as Dennis began thinking, "How can we trust this dense scab? The map he's got in his noggin's pro'a'ly from the blasted 1800's,"

Annie reached up to smack Neil's head. He dodged and went to lightly punch her back. She bent forward and grabbed his offending hand, catching his arm behind her back. Laura sighed, "Save it for the honeymoon you two," she commanded sarcastically. Those two gave her a migraine, why couldn't they just listen and do what they were supposed to? Laura was sure that they're going get either get themselves or all of them killed.

The two rowdy ones of the group glared at the blonde, as two kids would their mother, before releasing each other and turning back to Dennis, "just over the bridge, then follow the highway. If I can remember the report correctly –not a damn word out of you, ya lil' shit- then there's an evac at Whispering Oaks," he informed, glaring at Neil before he could make another joke referring to his age.

The rebellious fighter smirked, biting his lower lip. His arms, which he bandaged all the way up to the shoulders, were folded. He rocked on the heels of his feet and tugged at his open, sleeveless button up shirt, before walking ahead, staying closer to the group than before. Dennis soon marched after him. Why that stupid kid had that damn thing he calls a shirt on was past him. It was more like a formality, since he always kept it unbuttoned. _A shirt? More like a vest_, he noted, _the idiot's lucky the flu isn't air born and we're all immune._ If he hadn't ditched his uniform's jacket a few towns over before he met up with the kick boxer, he would have given it to him now, just so he wouldn't have to watch that damn Irishman fawn over himself all the time.

Annie's voice broke Dennis from his train of thought, "Hey old man," the officer glared as she jogged up beside him, "how're we supposed ta cross ah bridge if it's not lowered?"

Dennis looked the way the brunette was pointing; there was the bridge they needed to cross, raised up. On the bridge, he spotted someone, "Hello up there!" he raised his hands to his face and shouted. The person on the bridge stopped and turned around, looking down at the group. It was a woman with brown hair in a pink jacket and jeans, and she looked surprised to see the group, "Miss, would ya mind kindly lowering the bridge for us?"

"Sorry, I can't do that,"

Dennis raised an eyebrow, "Miss, I'd like to point out that I am an officer of the law, apocalypse or not, so I'm gonna give you the chance to rethink that answer,"

From behind the girl, someone out of sight from the four laughed out loud, "We aren't falling for that one!" Shouted a man.

Before Dennis could shout back up, the girl continued speaking, "Look, another group of survivors were here just a few minutes ago, that's their car beside you. If you go on ahead with them, and get to the other side then we can all lower the bridge together. Best deal I can offer, sorry,"

Laura responded happily, "That's alright, thank you very much!"

"Oh wow, there's more women? This is great!" the girl on the bridge cheered.

Annie came up beside Laura, "Yeah, I know what ya mean," she wrapped an arm around Laura's shoulders, "We gotta stick ta'gether ya know?"

"You guys are lucky, I'm the only girl in my group, and there's only one in the group that left,"

Annie shivered dramatically, "Ug, I don't think I could survive. Well, we bettah catch up ta them, see ya on the other side!"

The girls turned around and saw that Neil had already jumped down into the park, "Well come on now ya lazy-asses, we gotta get movin'!" Annie nudged Laura and mockingly aimed her combat shotty at the Irishman ahead before sprinting after him. Laura watched the two go before walking back to Dennis. Since Neil had a bad habit of running off, the group silently decided early on that Annie and him would at least stay together, and so would Laura and Dennis.

The probation officer looked up as Laura came over and he shook his head, "Sorry there, I was just looking and…" as they walked ahead he turned back, "I think that's Jimmy Gibb's car…"

"Who?"

He went wide-eyed, "Only the best stock car racer a' all time. Legend, that man is. Sorry, I keep forgetting y'aren't from 'round these parts are ya?"

Laura shook her head, "Nope, just for business,"

Dennis eyed her camera, hanging on the strap across her shoulder, "Would that business entail some sort of photography?"

Laura nodded meekly, looking down at her running shoes. They weren't even hers, but her previous footwear was flats from the wedding, so she traded them up when she met with the group; however she was still stuck with the baby blue blouse and white skirt. Clothes, she would _not_ rip off of some zombie. They all met only two days ago, and the rest of the group quickly learned of her protectiveness towards her camera. At first, it was a trait that worried and annoyed the others, but now they've gotten used to her and devotion to photography. Whether Laura knew it or not, the other's considered her caring and calm, motherly personality an asset to the group, even though she was by far the weakest fighter.

The two passed through the park and into the building across the street, no zombies were left over from the other two for them to kill. Dennis and Laura were beginning to wonder how long it would take from them to catch up with the other two when they heard a woman, they assumed Annie, scream and Neil shout out, "Bleedin' hell!"

They ran up the stairs; at the end of the hall was Neil, pulling on Annie's arm. They ran up behind him and saw that Annie was being pulled back towards a special type of zombie, with a large tumor sprouting from its neck. Its tongue was wrapped around Annie's torso and trying to pull her towards its claws. Dennis raised his rifle and shot its tongue, making Neil fall down with Annie, and then shoot its head until it exploded in a cloud of green smoke.

Annie picked herself up and checked her clothes; she was still in her yoga gear so she wanted to be sure nothing was torn, "What the fucking hell was that?"

"First that leaping, mutt bastard, then that walking balloon o' piss and vomit, and now that thing?" Neil cussed, standing up.

Laura reached behind her towards her first aid kit. Annie saw this and swatted at the blonde's hand, "I'm fine, just a few cuts an' bruises," the photographer gave her a stern look and nodded for Annie to lift up the hem of her blank tank top to check her ribs. As Laura began checking her friend to the best of her ability, Neil looked on with a mischievous glint in his emerald eyes. Annie caught his stares and cleared her throat, "Jealous?"

Neil chuckled while Laura blushed, pulling herself away and muttering to Annie that she was fine. She was unnoticed, and saw the two looking at each other, each with a mischievous look about them. She squeezed her eyes, and rubbed the bridge of her nose, _here we go…_

His smirk challenged that of the yoga instructor's, "No, I understand. You were all hot 'n' bothered on top o' me and ya needed to blow off some steam whichever way ya can. Isn't that how you do it? Whichever way?"

Dennis rolled his eyes at their childish antics, lightly tapping Laura to get her to walk ahead with him. The photographer looked at the two worriedly before continuing on with Dennis. Annie began following the two as she gave Neil her retort, "Yeah, 'cause unlike you, I can please people _whichever way_, smah-t ass,"

Laura, trying to speak over the two behind her, who were getting louder by the second, asked Dennis, "How long until you think we catch up to the other group?" Before he responded, Dennis turned back to the two younger members and glared, as the volume of their bickering had increased to shouting,

"Hey, would you keep it down? Some of us would prefer _not_ to attract every zombie in the area,"

The group of four looked up at this new voice. Leaning over the railing above the alleyway they were in, was an irritated looking man in a white suit.

* * *

**A/N: Well, this is me, back in the fandom that got me on this site, and where my first stories were published. Hopefully this time around it won't be completely terrible ^^**

**Coming up with this band of survivors was immensely fun! Unintentionally though, I have three accents in there. Dennis – Southern Twang [Like Ellis and Coach, though a bit less prominent], Neil – Irish, and Annie – Boston. Hopefully my way of typing dialogues with accents is effective for you to understand and grasp, and if not then hopefully I'll be able to improve (with your help) to make this story better and easier for you to read! *insert rest of cheesy message here***

**So, please review, and maybe you would like to tell me what you think of these new survivors I've thrown in there? What do you think of the group as a whole? About each character individually? Or even just which newcomer is your favourite?**

**'Til next time!**


	2. The Riverbank

****The Riverbank

* * *

**So a day when you've lost yourself completely  
Could be a night when your life ends  
Such a heart that will lead you to deceiving  
All the pain held in your  
Hands are shaking cold  
Your hands are mine to hold**

_Move Along – All American Rejects_

* * *

Neil's Slang

**Deadly** – very cool

**Plonker** – idiot

'**Off his nut'** - crazy

'**The Business'** – cool

**Gasur** – young child (male)

**Gob** – mouth

**Master** – the best

**Ride** – an attractive person

**Poof** – derogatory term

* * *

"Hey, Ellis, you all there boy?"

"Is he ever?"

The young southern boy looked behind him, where Coach and Nick were. He beamed at the older men, "Yes sir, Coach, I'm fine,"

"Still thinkin' 'bout that girl, huh?" he teased knowingly, causing the younger Savannah native to become flustered. From beside Ellis, Rochelle chuckled lightly at Coach's good natured joshing while Nick rolled his eyes, "Come on boy, no one here's gonna blame ya. Zombie apocalypse, not many people left out there. Ya gotta take what you can get," he continued in a joking manner; a sinking feeling in his stomach was the after-taste of finally making a joke of this grim situation. Coach shook the feeling away though; this is how it was now, people were gone, best to accept that and treat it as real as anything else.

Ellis shook his head as they continued walking down the alleyway, "Nah Coach, she ain't just someone left over, she's _someone_,"

"Some _**one**_?" Rochelle said, joining in on the teasing. Her and Coach laughed at Ellis' reaction while Nick sighed, annoyed,

"Ok, we get it, the kid has his first crush, and it's _very cute_," he mocked, "but when you two are done playing parents, we have fucking zombies to kill so we can drive a dumb stock car over a bridge,"

Ellis' face showed hurt, "Well hey Nick, there's just no good reason ta be bashing the Gibbs Jr,"

"Overalls, I can bash whatever the fuck I want,"

"Oh, here we go," Rochelle muttered to Coach. Ellis slowed down and was now walking beside Nick while Coach moved up to join her. In mere seconds, they'd be having an argument, with participation from Nick, mainly, but an argument none-the-less. However, instead of having her ears subjected to Nick's insults, a different argument was heard; it was between a woman and man, each with heavy accents, and it was coming from the alleyway below them. The others heard it too, because silence had fallen over the four. Nick strode over to the railings and looked down. There he saw another group of four. A blonde woman with a camera walking with _oh god_, Nick thought, a cop. Behind them were the two loud mouths; another, younger, girl with brown hair and some punk with green hair,

"Hey, would you keep it down? Some of us would prefer _not_ to attract every zombie in the area," he shouted down to them. As they looked up to him, Rochelle shook her head; noticing how oblivious Nick was at the hypocrisy of his comment.

Nick eyed the group's faces critically. The kid with the mohawk seemed indifferent, the girl he was arguing with had a smile, and the officer was glaring with just as much –if not more- judgement back up at him. The blonde, however, seemed excited and relieved, "Oh! Are you the group trying to raise the bridge?" She asked, while jogging up the ramp to meet them, the rest of her group in tow.

Rochelle came forward, "Yeah, and… who might you be?"

The cop, much to Nick's dismay, took over, "We're another group of survivors trying to cross the bridge. The girl on the other side told us to look for you,"

Ellis sprang forward in front of the elderly man, "Oh wow, how is she? Did she mention me at all?"

Coach came up and placed a firm hand on the excited boy's shoulder. Taking over his unspoken role as leader, Coach spoke to the man, "Folks call me Coach. This here's Ellis, then there's Rochelle, and Nicholas,"

"Nick," the con artist insisted firmly,

The cop's eyes scanned over all of them, his face still stone cold, "I'm _Off_-icer Denzel, the miss here is Laura, and the two idiots back there are Annie and Neil," At hearing Denzel introduce himself with officer status, Coach, Rochelle, and Ellis looked at Nick knowingly and teasingly.

Nick just sent them glares, "That's nice, want to tell us why we should help you?" Denzel glared daggers, Nick was rubbing him the wrong way and they'd known each other for less than a minute.

"What do you mean?" Questioned Laura, her look towards the conman was one confused, but equally defensive.

He scoffed, "Listen sweet cheeks, I know how things work. You just need to get to the other side of the bridge, right? You have no car?" he watched her shake her head, "Well, then you really don't need to join us, do you? What do you think we're going to do? Risk our lives trying to get an extra four people to the other side of the bridge, just so you can ditch us as soon as we get there, with nothing in return?" He explained his view, calmly but annoyed.

Laura looked at him, shocked. Who did this guy think he was? Judging people he hadn't met yet; they were good people and Laura could say, about herself for sure, that she would never do someone so underhanded. Denzel saw Laura's offended reaction and retorted for her, "Boy, where do you get off telling us what kinda people we are?"

"Easy, I call 'em like I see 'em," was Nick's immediate remark. Rochelle tried placing a hand on his folded arms, but he shook her off, "Now, would you mind telling me how some old timer, a girl who just came out of a high school yoga class, some punk ass with his two arms injured, and a chick who looks like she's dressed for Sunday dinner at mom's house supposed to help us, in any way?"

Laura looked at the white suited man in shock. A fresh wave of fury flooded inside her; who did this guy think he was? Was he that pessimistic; that they were just going to use him and his team as extra muscle to get through the town? Laura wanted more than anything to snap at the man in the white suit; it was the zombie apocalypse, now was the time to stop being her usual, please everyone, self.

However, even now, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she continued to stare at Nick in shock while Dennis took over, "Son," Nick raised a challenging eyebrow, not liking being called 'son', "We've been through our fair share of zom-bie in_fest_ed towns an' counties an' lemme tell yew right now: we don't _need_ yer help, and you clearly don't need ours. How-_ever_, ah think it's clear ta all of us that stickin' together, least for the time bein', would be a smart thing. I'm sure yer a… _smart_ guy, ain't chya, Nic-o-las?" He sounded out the syllables of Nick's name as he took a step closer, looking down at him; though he was only a few inches taller, the way Denzel stared Nick down made every inch of height he had over the mouthy con-artist count. No one missed the tone Officer Denzel was using talking to Nick, like Nick was child and he knew Nick was responsible for doing something; or how Nick was glaring straight back at the county officer, daring him with his eyes and stance to do something.

Coach spoke, breaking the face-off, "Well, Officer Denzel, we'd love ta have you come along with us. We're taking the 'Under the River Tour'," he explained, motioning for Dennis to walk up ahead with him. Coach had to agree with Nick; he wasn't entirely sure what to think of these new-comers, and he wasn't sure about bringing them along; but unlike Nick, he wasn't going to say anything aloud, and he was going to let them tag along, however tentative he may feel about it initially.

Laura decided to stick with Dennis as usual, seeing as he was the one she seemed to look up to and trust the most. Nick didn't want to spend another goddamn second with the stupid cop, but looking back he saw that Rochelle and… whoever the other girl was were having 'friendly chit-chat' and so were the hick and the Irishman. Naturally, he decided to take his chances with the cop and walked to catch up with him, Coach, and Sunday dinner girl.

Walking through the apartment was, for lack of any better word, awkward; even the small talk between Rochelle and Annie and Coach and Dennis seemed forced. The only person who seemed to be unaffected by the obvious tension between the two groups was Ellis, who was happily talking Neil's ear off. In Neil favor, he was reacting quite well to the hyper-active mechanic, "Yer mate seems deadly,"

Ellis looked at the other man, slightly confused, "Well, nah, he ain't deadly, he just got something wrong in his head ever since this one time, in second grade, I had just become Keith's friend; he was a grade older and he wanted me tah be like… his pro-te-jay er somethin', and I thought he was so cool! Anyways, he was on the monkey bars when-"

"No, ya plonker!" Neil shouted, hitting Ellis' head, "Ah meant yer mate sounds cool, a bit off his nut, but the business,"

Ellis blinked, "What about the business? Cause I dunno 'bout the ol' auto shop we left behind in Savannah… but man, when I find Keith again, we're gonna start a whole _new_ auto shop, and **that** business'll be real good, cause after a zombie apocalypse, we'll be the _only_ auto shop, so-"

"Bloody hell, yer like a gasur," he saw Ellis about to comment about how he misunderstood his slang, so Neil draped an arm across his shoulder, playfully shoving him, "Boyo, do ya ever shut your gob? Lemme tell _you_ some o' _my_ stories. Oh, I was the master! The lassies knew me ta be quite a ride," he explained, winking at the two girls behind him.

Ellis smiled at his new companion, "Yew know, yew and Nick seem ta have lots in common. I mean, before the apocalypse, seems both of ya'll were-"

"I'm nothing like that dumb ginger," Nick shouted back at them.

Neil raised a pierced eyebrow, "Oh-ho-ho," he chuckled out, "what was that, suit?"

"Well, I mean, I'm just assuming that the carpet doesn't match the curtain," he responded nonchalantly,

"Oh, I be ya'd love ta find out, ya poof,"

Nick tuned out the, now pissed of Irishman, and looked ahead as Coach continued his seemingly pleasant conversation with the cop. Nick glared at their backs before looking at the women on his right who was looking around, clutching the golf club tight enough in her hands that her knuckles were white. God, as if he needed to babysit a grown woman. What he found odder still was the camera dangling precariously around her neck; why did she have that? Checking to make sure his shotgun was fully loaded, he mused how if she could push the button on a camera, she should be able to pull the trigger on a gun; at least that would be more useful.

As they exited the apartment and crossed the walkway on their way to a park, Laura finally gathered enough courage to look at Nick, whose eyes she felt on her since he started walking with them. Of course, at this moment, he was also looking at her. He smirked, catching her in the act, which made her look at the ground in embarrassment. This doesn't make sense, her mind screamed at her, you're the one who caught _him_ in the act, why are you being shy? She decided to look back up at him, and saw he was still staring, "Take a picture, it'll last longer," he teased, looking down at her camera before looking up ahead, where Officer Denzel had turned around for a moment specifically to glare the Nick.

Laura rolled her eyes; how could a grown man be so childish? She'd met plenty of guys like him; at school, at coffee shops, at clubs and bars. There was one of him at every wedding; the guy who was so smooth, he could end up getting away with saying anything to anyone, including the bride herself.

As they ascended some steps inside the park, the cries of a Witch touched their ears. Coach, Nick, Ellis and Rochelle readied their weapons and turned off their flashlights, while the other four looked at them, confused. Nick groaned, "You're kidding; how long did you say you were walking around this apocalypse old man?"

Before Denzel could retort, Coach spoke, "It's a special infected, called a Witch. Do you know what they are?"

Annie answered, "We've seen some leaping, hooded bastards, long tongue, coughing bastards, and giant, fat-ass bastards," she named off the special infected her group had encountered.

As Coach told Dennis, the only one of the new group who had a flashlight, to turn it off, they continued up the steps. Nick muttered, "You're vocabulary is clearly very extensive," about Annie.

The only one who heard was Laura, who had upgraded from trying to ignore the ex con to glaring daggers at him like everyone else. When they reached the top of the stairs, the sight was horrific and to Laura, it was a flash-back. There stood a weeping Witch bride under a gazebo, her dress torn to shreds and veil pushed back from her pale, lifeless face. All around the reception area, zombies in dress attire walked around, "What's she crying about? At least she got married…"

"Shit, I don't see any way around her," Rochelle whispered.

"Ok, so we send the kids in as bait," Nick said as if the answer were obvious, pointing to Neil and Ellis.

Neil started towards Nick, only for Annie to hold him back, while Ellis was too busy in his own world, "This got me thinking, I should totally marry that girl. Hey Coach, can coaches marry people?"

"No, Ellis,"

Nick scoffed, "Marrying her is the _last thing_ you should do,"

Rochelle looked at Laura, who was transfixed on the Witch bride, "Laura?" she could have dealt with _that_ at the wedding…, "Laura?" Laura blinked, snapping out of it and looking at Rochelle, "You ok sweetie?"

Laura nodded, "Yeah I just… before… _this_," she referred to the predicament she currently found herself in, "I was… a wedding photographer. A-and my first encounter with the Green Flu was at this wedding reception, where the bride…" she trailed off, looking at the Witch. She wasn't getting scared, or teary, but more melancholy; as if finally sharing what happened was letting her know all this was real.

"Was a Witch?" Annie guessed,

Laura shook her head, "No, just a regular zombie,"

"Maybe it's cause this one didn't get married yet. That's kinda sad," Ellis mused,

"Yeah…" Nick agreed, "It's going to be even more sad when she rips us apart with those claws she calls nails. Anyone have a plan? Something to distract her with?"

Annie pointed to where they came from, "There was an oxygen tank down there,"

"and there's some propane and gas can around here too," Laura pointed out.

Coach nodded, smiling in approval, "Ok y'all, we double up. Annie and Ro, get the oxygen tank down there. Ellis and Neil, get the propane tank on the left over there, and Laura, go get the gas can on the right with Nick,"

Denzel cut in, "I don't think I like the idea of that white-suited smart ass hanging around her,"

Nick scoffed again, "Who are you, her grandpa?" he began walking towards the gas can, "Come on sweet cheeks," Laura followed discontentedly; this guy was really poking her last nerve. Was he just incapable of showing respect for others, she wondered while watching his back. _And who does he think he is talking about my clothes? He's the one with blood and… who knows what else all over a 100 or so dollar suit_. Nick picked up the gas can and smirked at her, once again catching her stare, "Like what you see?"

She walked up to him and took the gas can out of his grip, marching back to the group, "Whatever you say, Colonel," Nick chuckled at the shorter woman's muttered comment. He noticed Dennis' demeaning glare as a ticked off Laura took her spot beside him. Nick just glared right back; he didn't trust this guy, or his team, and he was going to do whatever he could to make the journey through Rayford as unpleasant for them as he could. The last thing he needed was to be stuck with another four idiots during the end of the world.

As Laura scurried off after Nick, Coach placed a reassuring hand on Dennis' shoulder, "Look, you gotta have more faith in him. I know he can be hard to get along with, but Nicolas is a good man," Denzel nodded and gave a gruff affirmative before turning his head away. Coach cast the older man a weary glance before turning his attention to everyone who had returned with their explosive items. He and Denzel took them from the younger members and chucked them as close as they could to the Witch bride, "Now we just gotta open fire on 'em and hopefully that bitch'll fall dead before she can get to us,"

"Hopefully? Last time **I** checked, that means there's ah bettah chance of us getting' **o**ur asses handed ta us," Annie stated, itching her bare shoulder while pulling the top sleeve back on it.

Ellis shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I'm afraid that all we can do right now Miss,"

"Ok, on three we fire at the cans. As soon as she gets startled, open fire on her," Coach instructed. Denzel nodded and help up three fingers, meaning he would be doing the count-down much to Nick's disdain. Denzel switched to two fingers and everyone aimed their weapons; then he put down his second finger and pointed ahead, and everyone fired.

The Witch let out an ear shattering scream as flames engulfed her, while the other cans with oxygen and propane exploded, sending her stumbling back as bullets ripped through her already ruined dress. Laura stood in the back, watching sadly as the bride brought her clawed hands to her face while her screams became mixed with sobs as she ran down the aisle; a flaming bride left at the altar. The seven members of the group firing were getting nervous as they started backing up, the Witch not falling dead. Nick was, unfortunately, at the head of the pack and his eyes widened at the flaming psycho bitch set him as her target, "Ah, tits!" He instinctively closed his eyes and twitched his shoulder in front of him. Instead of the slashing pain across his chest, a warm liquid splattered on his face. He opened his eyes and saw the head of a golf club embedded in the stomach of the Witch as she hung from it limply. Laura shook the re-dead corpse off her only weapon of defense, disgusted. He looked at her and gave an almost unnoticeable nod of approval. His gaze shifted to the Witch's body, "Honeymoon's over, bitch,"

Annie laughed obnoxiously, "Knew there was ah reason we kept ya ah-round!" She praised, clapping the older woman on the shoulder.

Neil watched the exchange and snickered, "Oh, we _all_ know _why_ ya want the lass around- ow!" He shook the arm Denzel just wacked his night stick on. Around a loud rumble of thunder, almost instantly they were in the middle of a rain storm, "Ah _course_ it starts ta piss down!"

"There are tents over there!" Rochelle called out, leading the way with Coach past the gazebo. She looked back at Annie and Neil, smiling in amusement despite herself as they argued and teased each other,

"Oh, don't act like y**o**u're jealous 'cause I'd choose her ovah you any day,"

Rochelle, like the others on her team, didn't have a definitive opinion of the new group of survivors, but she could tell that, no matter what happened after this, those four would be alright if they stuck together. Annie and Neil, while rambunctious, were also a source of humor and a sort of brightness in this darkening place. Denzel was clearly the leader, and father figure to them; while Laura was more of an older sister, with potential to be a better leader.

As they reached the tents, Ellis pointed out to the streets, "Looks like there's a safe house on the other side of the bus!" Running up ahead to get inside, "Oh hey! Did I ever tell yew 'bout the time Keith got married? Course not, that's a trick question, cause he never did get married. You know how you always hear 'bout them runaway brides? Well Keith, he was a runaway groom on his weddin' day. It all started when-"

"Ah, jeez, is there another Witch we can piss of?" Nick groaned, walking past the hick into the safe house.

Laura followed behind, "You really want me to get more blood on your fancy suit after I save your ass?"

"How much of a wuss do ya have ta be, to have to get a lass to save you by sticking a driver right in the Witch's gut?"

"Hey Neil, at least Laura can stick something to a girl," Annie teased, pushing him out of the way so she could enter the safe house first.

"Yew two best calm the fuck down 'fore I fix ya'up right good,"

"They sure are… interesting, aren't they Coach?" Rochelle said as she and Coach entered the safe house last.

Coach nodded, locking the door behind him, "Yeah, this'll be somethin' alright,"

"Oh hey! Did I ever tell yew 'bout the time my buddy Keith snuck into a wedding?"

* * *

**A/N: Here's chapter two! Thanks for the great reviews last chapter; speaking of last chapter, the character profiles have added Age and Hometown for each of the new survivors, since I wanted to make them as close to the profiles of the L4D2 characters as possible.**

**So, what are you all thinking of this so far? About the relations and interactions between all the survivors? Any thoughts on plot, characters, whatever? Leave a review, please!**


End file.
